Air India Provides First Class Passenger $116 For Mattress Bugs, Gentle Falling On Head

A few days in the past, I lined how an Air India top notch passenger reported having a fully terrible expertise, on one of many service’s longest routes, the 18-hour journey from Delhi (DEL) to Toronto (YYZ), with a refueling cease in Vienna (VIE). I’d like to offer an replace, as Air India has apologized and has supplied compensation, however it leaves one thing to be desired.

Air India provides $116 apology for terrible 18-hour flight

As a reminder, an Air India top notch passenger took to social media, to share what little question appears like an unacceptable expertise on a really lengthy flight:

• The seat malfunctioned repeatedly, and needed to be manually fastened by the crew
• An overhead gentle fell on the passenger’s head
• A damaged USB port with a pointy edge lower the passenger’s fingers
• Mattress bugs on the seat and blanket gave the passenger a number of rashes from bites
• Torn upholstery and cracked panels had been seen, with zero upkeep

He reached out to Air India about this incident. What was the service’s response?

We have now taken notice of the intense issues raised relating to flight AI187 on 12 October 2025, together with the situation of the seat, lighting points, and different distressing experiences. Your suggestions has been forwarded to the involved crew for thorough overview and future enchancment. Whereas these experiences can’t be undone, a goodwill gesture of INR 10,174 is being supplied in recognition of this case. Kindly present the next financial institution particulars together with a replica of a void cheque to facilitate processing.

Simply to transform that quantity, Air India is providing a complete of $116 in compensation.

My tackle Air India’s inadequate compensation provide

Suffice it to say that the $116 supplied is an extended methods from the “full refund and compensation for bodily harm, discomfort and well being threat” that the traveler was requesting.

For what it’s value, I reached out to the traveler to ask how he booked his ticket and the way a lot he paid. It’s helpful context — it doesn’t matter what, $116 is manner too little compensation for what was described, however clearly the quantity you need to obtain is dependent upon whether or not you paid $10,000 on your ticket, or redeemed associate miles.

The traveler defined to me that he had upgraded his ticket to top notch for $1,500. So I’ve to say, providing what basically quantities to a ten% refund on the improve price appears slightly unreasonable.

Even years after being privatized, it’s merely embarrassing that Air India is providing such an expertise. Worst of all, this wasn’t even an remoted incident, and what this traveler skilled appears nearer to the norm than being an exception (possibly not the bug half, however the basic difficulty with cabin upkeep).

In fact all airways take some liberties with their advertising, however I can’t assist however level out how extremely deceiving Air India is with the way it describes its top notch expertise:

Expertise true luxurious within the sky with our greatest at school top notch cabin. A single step on board Air India’s top notch will exemplify the true that means of luxurious.

Sorry, greatest in what class, precisely? Amongst Indian airways providing an extended haul top notch product? Nicely, sure, I assume by that definition, Air India is greatest/solely “at school.”

I completely get that Air India can’t be totally rebuilt in a single day. Nonetheless, the airline merely has to do a greater job with sustaining cabins, even when they’re in any other case outdated. The problems skilled come right down to primary upkeep, and may’t be blamed on delays with new seats, and so on.

What’s additionally value mentioning — and it’s not shocking — is that the form of compensation airways provide relies upon solely on how viral one thing goes. For instance, simply over a yr in the past, a video went viral after somebody had a “nightmare” flight in Air India top notch.

The expertise really appeared much less dangerous than this one (at the least there have been no bugs crawling within the sheets), however the traveler ended up being supplied a full refund. Presumably that was just because the video was considered many tens of millions of occasions.

Backside line

An Air India top notch passenger had a really terrible flight, with every thing from a studying gentle falling on his head, to bugs being current within the sheets and inflicting rashes. Whereas the traveler requested a full refund and extra compensation (unlikely), the airline went to the opposite excessive, and supplied a complete of $116 in compensation. That doesn’t appear to chop it, when you ask me…

What do you make of Air India’s compensation provide?